War of Worlds
by shadowwriter01
Summary: The Forces of Darkness are gathering. As multiple cosmic threats are allying, a war involving the entire Multiverse is beginning. Multicrossover. Prequel to my "Guardian" Multiverse.


**This chapter contains heavy spoilers for Avengers Endgame.**

**This story uses the same basic concept that I have already used for my Highschool DxD stories "Issei Hyoudou: The Guardian" and "Gods of Darkness" **

**and the My Hero Academy story "Mirror´s Edge". **

**It plays in the same Multiverse that includes Marvel, Hellsing, DC and several other worlds.**

**For the story I am taking a mix of comic and movie universes, in the form of multiple parallel worlds. **

**I have for example the events of the Hellsing Manga and one of the Marvel Universes play in the same world – that is labeled Universe 1 and the base universe.**

**None of it belongs to me etc.**

* * *

**War of Worlds**

_Once humanity believed that the universe itself was endless, infinite._

_But the truth was there existed even more than one universe – there were countless_

_Some were completely different from ours - plains beyond simple man´s understanding._

_In some of these universes existed life, in a few even other Earths, other humanities – sometimes even different versions of the same people...counterparts with the same identities, but different lives and histories. _

_The word that we knew was merely one facet of reality as a whole, like all the others were._

… _and there were some beings who transcended these worlds – those existence transcended all of the multiverse. Powerful Immortals and Eternal Beings of practically unlimited power._

_Most of them already came into existence like this. As Cosmic Forces beyond any human comprehension._

_But sometimes, beings of the lower levels of existence managed to evolve – make the jump to immortality, to godhood... and far beyond that._

_But what if some of these so called `higher beings´ decided to follow different philosophies... _

…_. if they pledged themselves to contradicting cosmic Supreme Forces?_

_What if some of them decided to serve the Creation and some the Destruction?_

_What if some of them decided that all these universes – that life itself - were flawed... and that it was their destiny to change them... _

… _by destroying what was and forming it new, reborn in fire._

… _And what if some others decided to stand in their way._

xxx

Once he had been born as a regular human. With some gifts maybe that set him apart from most, but still as limited and as **mortal** as all of them.

But that was a long time ago.

Somewhere in space, on a planet that was not Earth, was standing a being that had once been human.

Here, standing in the middle of some desolated landscape on some liveless planet, somewhere at the edge of one of the dwarf galaxies of the local galaxy cluster.

But this was only his physical self. His mind meanwhile was reaching out through the layers of the world – the universe – that his body was standing in.

Through the borders of reality, he could sense what just had happened. But even he could barely believe it.

"Did – did you sense what had happened?" one of his comrades asked him, "did it...?"

"Yes It did," he answered.

The impossible had just happened. Impossible at least in the mind of any `normal´ person.

… A universe had collapsed.

On a pure logical level, they had known the risk that it would come to this sooner or later at one point.

This was after all what the entire war was leading up to.

Cleansing – perfectioning – the entire Multiverse, by eradicating all what is flawed...

This was their rule – individuals, groups, civilizations, worlds and ultimately even entire dimensions.

But the part of him that was still mortal could barely comprehend what just had happened. It defied common sense. Or at least what mortal beings understood of it.

Far away, another similar being shared his thoughts.

In many senses they both were the same, but yet opposites.

They had known each other for many centuries. Fought each other countless times and sometimes even side by side.

He had first met this being – this man – in their early youth, when they were both still mortal. When they were different.

They had once been allies, comrades, friends even.

Both of them had once been human.

**xxxxxxx**

_Several years earlier_

A snap with a finger,

that was all it took... a snap and the incredible cosmic power behind it.

And everything ended.

He and his followers were watching the events that were playing out on a large screen before them in both awe and horror.

They saw the entire army, themselves... and also their imposing leader... turn to dust.

"So this is how it will end," the being named Thanos stated quietly.

What he and his most precious followers – his adopted children – had just seen was nothing but their own end. Destroyed by the Infinity stones, the same he had been searching for for so long.

The last thing he had watched, was his own death... for the second time.

"For **him **\- yes," a bodiless voice answered him... a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "But not necessarely for you."

This was a quite ironic statement, Thanos of all people knew.

"Even if you **are** him," the voice added.

**xxx**

They had just been trying their attempted time-jump into the future – the year the earthlings called 2023.

To get the Infinity Stones from the time travelling group of Avengers they had encountered in 2014, who included a rogue version of Thanos own adopted daughter Nebula.

This Avengers were trying nothing else than to use time-travel to erase the actions of a future version of Thanos.

In their time he had collected the Infinity Stones to fulfill his self-chosen purpose in life, to restore the balance between life and death in the universe by erasing half of the sentient beings. And afterwords this future-version of him had used them again to destroy the Stones themselves.

A short time before the Avengers found and finally killed him.

But that was not all. Later they had actually discovered a way to travel back in time to bring back the Infinity Stones and reverse what his future version had done... to erase his entire purpose of life, he thought angrily.

He had seen it all, in the recordings from the cyber-implants of the Future-Nebula... including his own death.

No, erasing half of the life was not enough, he had realized.

There would always be those who would not accept it and worked to reverse what had been done. And given enough time and work, they would some day find a way. Like this example showed perfectly well.

He now had a new purpose, he had made up his mind.

He would destroy all of this universe and create a new one out of it´s remains. One where life and death **where** in balance.

A universe shaped by his design.

This current world was unbalanced and decayed he knew. He had always known since his homeworld had perished under the weight of it´s own population... and he had been stopped from doing something about it.

And if his race with all their power could not survive, what chance did all the other races have?

Why **should** they survive? a small voice in his mind said, if his own world had not.

So he had replaced the time-travelling Nebula with his own and had her use the Avenger´s own time-travelling device to bring him, his mothership and his army into the future... to take the Infinity Stones from the Avengers and to destroy them and the planet Earth once and for all.

And then use the Stones for his goal to create a new universe.

But their attempt had failed.

Instead they had arrived here... at an unknown place in space and time. And surrounded by a armada of space-ships ten times the size of his own forces.

And his army was the largest in known space. So where in the universe were they? Or more precisely, in what kind of universe?

Before they had even known it, their ship had been both hailed by on of the foreign ships... and were being boarded.

Hundreds of warriors of different races and appearance suddenly showed up everywhere around them, using, as it looked, some kind of portal based teleportation.

Many of them were members of a race of genetically modified and enhanced humans – called the SHA (Super Human Augmentations).

Others were members of various alien races.

**xxx**

A few were even regular humans, bonded to so called symbionts. Like the infamous beings Carnage and Venom.

In fact Carnage (and his host Cletus Cassidy) was standing right under them as leader of the group.

He had cladly accepted as they had contacted him and gave him their offer... and the possibilities that came with it.

It gave him the chance to spread chaos, death and destruction of a level higher than he had ever imagined after all.

Even if it meant he had to act as part of their forces.

But they had promised him that they would let him cut loose as often as possible.

He had even allowed them to use the genetic material of his symbiont to create dozens more of them.

**xxx**

There were also a few other superpowered beings from different planets and even universes present.

Vampires and other supernatural creatures.

And also a large number of the so called Parademons from the planet Apocolipse.

But they all were nothing compared to who appeared next.

**xxx**

Then six more figures appeared on board.

Thanos knew instantly that they were the leaders - in charge over the soldiers who had boarded his ship.

He could literally feel the power radiating from these six.

Four out of them were humanoid looking beings, three of them clad in long black cloaks.

The other two however.

Both were very tall monstrous, intimidating looking, creatures. Rivalling Thanos himself in size.

The first looked like his outer skin was made of black and grey colored solid rock. He was a god, boh in appearance and also in name.

The second was just as tall and seemed to be wearing some kind of metallic armor. His skin was light blue.

Their names were Darkseid and En Sabah Nur or Apocalypse. But that was something they didn´t know yet.

What all six of them had in common however was that their eyes were glowing in a sinister deep red color and that they were all radiating a massive dangerous and powerful energy.

Thanos and his followers didn´t actually knew them yet. But every single one of them was a threat of cosmic levels. Just like he himself.

And out of them, at least Thanos himself realized this.

"Please lay down your weapons. We are not here to attack you. But to give you an offer," one of them, one of the black cloaked figured, addressed them.

Even all that however was being overshadowed by the bodiless, completely overwhelming sinister presence that had suddenly manifested itself.

There was something else here, Thanos knew. Something that surpassed even this five by far.

He admitted he felt himself tiny in comparison.

His feeling was confirmed by the voice that was suddenly halling over the deck, coming out of nowhere.

"Yes – please listen to my Herald. All we want **for now** is talk."

"Who-... what are you?" Thanos asked.

"I have been called many things," the voice answered. "The ones you would know about are the Great Darkness, Akaram Na... or the Dark One Above All."

The Great Darkness, he thought. It was a term he knew from some obscure parts of his homeworld Titan´s old religion.

Not that he had been particular religious back then. But he still possessed some knowledge.

The One Above All was supposed to be the Creator of the multiverse, of all existence. Or - as many races would call it - God himself.

Far above the local Gods, the Celestals or even the Personifications of Cosmic Forces.

And the Great Darkness was supposed to be his dark side. His dark, destructive, counterpart.

Thanos himself had only taken this as old myths.

If this being was truly what it claimed, then he had to be really – really careful.

Not that the giant armada surrounding them and the five powerfull beings were not already threat enough.

**xxxxxxx**

Now - in the present - Thanos had just been presented with the consequences of his plan to jump into the future...

In a very drastic way. He had just watched himself and his entire army being turned to dust.

And he was now presented with a choice.

"Join me – join us," the voice addressed him. "I know your goal. I know you. You want a balanced universe, where life is still in check.

I have been watching you, for a long time.

Our goals are not much different and can easily be combined.

Look at them."

Thanos knew instantly that he was talking of the six beings before them.

"They all had once been Kings, Warlords, even Gods. Each of them with their own agenda and ideas. But now they are all united under my guidance."

"Guidance?" Thanos questioned.

"The Master is not trying to control or hold back and limit us." One of the cloaked being stepped forward.

"Quite the opposite, he wants us all to find and realize our full potential.

We are to fulfill his goals and to realize his vision to reform the entire multiverse in his image.

That is the ultimate purpose of our alliance.

But for the most part we are still free to follow our own plans and ideas. We are in charge of our own troops and use them to realize our own goals."

"And **yet** you call him Master," Thanos responded.

"A title given out of respect and loyalty, not force," he replied.

"Who are you?" Thanos asked.

"A name would say nothing to you. Seth, Mordred, Killian, Faust – I had many. What should matter to you is the role I play.

Once, just like you, I realized that this world was wrong."

**xxxxxxx**

He was indeed once a version of the legendary devious Prince of Britannia, born and raised by the religious cult his mother had been part of, for the sole purpose of killing and replacing his father.

Most legends didn´t say much about this aspect of this war father against son, but it all had only been part of the greater conflict between the rising Christianity and the old religion of Britannia at that time.

With a king raised and brought up under their complete influence, they had hope to stop the spread of Christianity and return their dominance to the island.

Until `their´ Mordred broke away from them.

Or broke free, as he himself would call it.

He had realized the truth. That he had been born, raised and manipulated his entire life for the purposes of others.

Only to pledge himself to a far darker force. And to revenge.

He had realized a dark truth. He had seen humanities true face – weak, rotten and corrupt.

The Christians (who had always condamned him and looked down on him alone because of his heritage – son of Arthur and Morgain Le Fey),

the so called Old Religion (who had taken him from his parents, manipulated and send him into wars – first against the invading saxxons, then against his father´s own kingdom, to kill and suffer for them – set him up to murder his own father, all in the name of the gods and the `greater good´ -... when in truth they were only meaning their **own** good.)

, they were all the same.

Hiding behind a mask of false rightenous and holiness to hide their own selfishness and corruption – their own weakness.

And it was everywhere the same. Most of humanity was nothing but a bunch of selfish and arrogant sheep, led by corrupt hypocrites.

The other races of this universe were not the slightest bit better, as he had seen in the new age.

He had waged a war to destroy not only Arthur, but the entire kingdom – heavens and christs alike..

As he finally fell at the Battle of Canlam, he had already reached a state of immortality.

And in opposite to what some legends claimed, here it was not Arthur, but **him** who rose from the fallen.

A few years later he found the Holy Grail (the version of his world) – and with the help of his Master, twisted part of it´s power, turned it into a force of darkness – and absorbed it into himself.

The other part of the power was taken by his former comrade Galahad, who had come to confront him.

Both of them had become immortal.

And he lived until this day, as one of the agents and heralds of the Great Darkness. The one – the only one in this world – who had offered him truth instead of lies.

In the last years he had also taken direct control of the forces of the genetically engineered sup-species of humanity called the SHA, that the agents of his Master had created during the last decades.

But it were especially his own power that had grown beyond any imagination during the last years.

The Holy Grail, a power said to come directly from God himself, turned into it´s opposite and merged with the own magical and supernatural abilities he had been born with.

Abilities that had even allowed him to fight Arthur – weilding the sword Excalibur and it´s powers – on equal ground... even before the Grail.

Magic, low-level telepathy and telekinesis, the sight – all that were gifts he had been born with and that he had trained and grown over the years.

Most of the legends didn´t say it, but both of his parents had actually been distant relatives of Merlin himself.

Arthur and Lancelot were not just sword-weilding Knights, but also warriors with supernatural powers.

He and the powers of the Grail had bonded together, becoming even more than the sum of their parts.

Of course he had a theory that far more had truly happened back then than both of them just absorbing half of the power.

With Galahad taking all the aspects that the Grail originally had embodied... and him becoming a

dark mirror-image of it – his counterpart-... a living embodiment of Destruction while Galahad became one of Protection.

He knew that Galahad himself had a similar theory. They had actually discussed this idea during one of their meeting over the centuries.

But that wasn´t the end. His powers grew even more over the time, as he grew in experience.

He even learned to draw power from the cosmos itself, to become literally one with it.

His physical body, he knew, was at this point little more than a vessel.

He was evolving into living supernatural energy. Soon he would be able to turn into any physical shape he wanted, manifest himself in the wherever he wanted in the universe,

throw planets out of their orbit and manipulate the structure of the cosmos through cheer will alone.

… and maybe even more.

And yet, deep down on some level, he admitted this development caused fear even to him.

**xxx**

One of the other robed figures was nobody else than Dracula.

A version of Vlad III of Walachia – the ruler also known as Vlad the Impaler - turned into a Vampire upon his physical death and growing into one of the strongest forces of death and destruction his world had ever seen.

Unknown to most however, he had secretly pledged himself to the same Master as the man who had once been Mordred. Just like him, he had helped him realize the true nature of humanity.

For centuries he continued his rule of terror as a Vampire.

Much later he had been stopped by Abraham Van Hellsing and his compatriots.

But he wasn´t killed, but put into supernatural chains instead.

For decades he was - under the name of Alucard - serving the so called Hellsing Organization.

But in opposite to another version of him, his malicious intents never changed.

It took him only a few years to overcome the many magical bonds that Abraham had placed on him.

He was free. Or at least he could be.

But instead he willingly staid, biding his time. Serving the Hellsing Family and undermining the enemy. To strike when it would cause the most damage.

Until them he used his `work´ for the Hellsing Organization as an excuse to rid the world of supernatural beings who were unworthy in his eyes.

His chance finally came during the battle of London at the end of the 20th century. When the supernatural Nazi organization Millenium - who had spend the last years raising up their army of artificially created false Vampires - started their final attack on England.

It was then... ironically as Integra – the last heiress of the House Hellsing – gave him her `permission´ to use all his powers (something he could have done anytime if he wanted)... when he finally took his chance.

He unleashed all his might, wiped out Millenium and Hellsing Forces, regular British Army soldiers alike... and the servants of the Vatican, who had been present to fight the undead...

… and of course a great part of the city, that had been obliterated during the battle.

He nearly regretted killing Integra. She had been one of the persons he truly came to respect. He remembered the look in her eyes when she finally realized the truth. That she never had any control over him.

She and Father Anderson – the Exorcist he fought many times - were under the few ones he had killed with his own hands at this day, instead of letting supernatural powers or undead servants doing the work.

At this day he absorbed the blood and with that the souls and the power of thousands.

Under the ones who he had absorbed was however also a special case. Another enemy calling himself Schroedinger – who possessed a special ability, a power to control and manipulate his own quantum existence.

This power however had a weakness. To appear physically at a certain place and time, to manifest himself, Schroedinger needed to be complete aware and concentrate on his own self.

He literally had to will himself into existence.

And this proofed fatal.

As Dracula absorbed his soul, Schroedingers powers and also his weakness became part of him.

For a being like him however - who had over the centuries absorbed and was now connected to the dormant souls of millions – concentrating on his own self was completely impossible.

And so he just disappeared. His physical existence ended from one moment to the other and he was trapped in a formless state between existence and non-existence, between life and death, between space and time.

He would have been in this state for decades – to properly integrate Schroedinger´s power and forced to eliminate the absorbed sould one by one.

If it had not been for the fact that the Great Darkness – or Ahriman, the name he knew him by – had appeared to him.

He claimed that he had more than proven himself and offered his assistance, to return to normal existance, to combine Schroedingers power with his and make it all his own.

And he wanted him to step up from being just an ally to be one of his highest Heralds in the Multiverse. He accepted.

His master helped him to release the souls, but keep all their energy and strength... and he returned to life.

But he was no longer the same. He was no longer simply a Vampire or even a No-life King.

He was a being with powers beyond space and time. He was... a God.

But he was not the only one.

He and his new partner Mordred had soon started new missions for their Master. Recruiting troops, allies and more beings like themselves.

He had met him before, even back then when he was still human. Just like he had met their enemy, the man named Galahad (or at least the versions from his home-reality).

But he had not been aware of their identities until decades later, until he had pledged himself to the Darkness and he became a Vampire.

As he found out, his Master had also removed the limitations on his ability to create other Vampires. Instead of just a virgin of the opposite gender, he could now transform anyone, even human-like alien species.

As long as there was enough darkness in their souls.

In one of their missions they even sacrificed an entire world to form an alliance with the interdimensional Being called Dormammu.

**xxx**

The tall blue skinned armored being was En Sabah Nur – or, as he was also called, Apocalypse.

He had been born over 5.000 years ago in old Egypt.

Born as a human mutant, one of the first of his kind and by far the oldest who still existed.

Born with incredible powers, but different from any normal human.

And he had learned early in a cruel way that regular humans don´t accept anything that looks or is different.

As a baby he had been abandoned in the desert and left to die. Only to be found and taking in by a tribe of dessert-raiders and marauders.

From his early childhood he had learned their philosophy – the strong survive and the weak perish. It had become the credo he lived by.

Since his early childhood he had been singled out, being mocked and attacked, even by his own tribesmen. Except for the man who had taken him in, the man he had called father.

Later his tribe had been attacked and wiped out by the epyptian army and his father killed. The reigning Pharao – a man who had betrayed and murdered himself to power – had once been an ally of his tribe and then sought to destroy them as he was on the throne.

He didn´t care about the rest of them. They had been weak, stupid and ignorant, all except this one man.

He too would have died on that day, if he had been a normal man. But he wasn´t. He had been practically immortal even back then.

But everything changed when his mutant powers fully awakened.

They all crumbled before him.

He had taken the role of a shadow ruler, who manipulated the events of Egypt and a great part of the old world for centuries. He became a myth – the Lord of the Apocalypse.

From the background he had furthered the evolution of mankind, helped the strong to thrive by weeding out the weak. Not out of some personal gain, but simply because it was the right thing to do.

He caused wars, saw discord and helped to topple entire civilizations.

And also chose certain individuals and gave them power – political or even physically.

All that for his single great goal.

He had never forgotten a single hit, a single strike with the scourge on him, a single insult or attempt to kill him. But all that only made him stronger.

It was a dark truth that it were the forces of struggle, violence and chaos that brought the world to step forward. And he had gladly become their harbinger.

There was barely anyone to challenge him and his powers during these days. Only a few beings from time to time.

A few time-travelling super-heroes from the future, alien visitors or other super powered beings like himself. But they were rare.

During a few of these confrontations, he also got his hands on modern alien technology originally belonging to the visitors. At first he could not do much with that. It was just too far ahead of his time. But he had centuries to figure it out after all.

From time to time however, he had the feeling that he was not alone. Sometimes he felt an incredible powerful presence close by. But then it was gone.

He always wrote it off. Thought of it as paranoia or his own imagination.

But later - around the time of the life of Christ - the Great Darkness finally revealed itself to him.

It put him through a line of tests, to see if he was ready for the purposes it had for him. (Something that Nur complete understood and agreed with. Even he needed to be tested and challenged, like all living beings.)

He passed the test and the entity decided to leave him on his own, to continue his work. But not before saying that it will have an eye on him.

He had also started to take long periods of hybernation. During them, with the help of his stolen alien technology, he was putting himself in an artificial sleep for centuries.

He only awakened when he sensed great changes in the world. Like in the 19th century, with the beginning of the modern age.

Or the end of the 20th, with the rise of the mutants.

It was only then that his true war finally begann. The appearance of more and more mutants like himself as a complete race.

It was at this time that he had his battles with the group of mutants known as the X-men.

Finally a force on Earth that truly challenged him. A foe that allowed him to proof his own right to survive against. Yes, despite everything he was happy that he met them.

They and he fought many battles with each other – their leader Scott Summers, his lover the telepath Jean Grey, Logan the man called Wolverine, Storm, Angel... the time traveller Cable, the young Nate Grey (an alternate universe version of him)... their opponent Magneto... they all were worthy enemies in their own way.

It all changed at the beginning of the 21st century. When he realized his great final plan for dominance.

He had planned to use 12 of the strongest mutants as sacrifices and absorb all their power into himself. And also to transfer his own consciousness into that of the powerful telepath Nate Grey. Because his body was ableto hold all these energies.

With this kind of power, he could have brought his rule of the strong – the Age of Apocalypse as he called it – over the entire galaxy.

But it turned out to be a failure, a complete one. The X-men interrupted the process.

And Jean Grey struck him down when he was just a bodiless consciousness – when he was at his most vulnerable.

His spirit and started to dissolve. He was dieing. The great Apocalypse would have perished.

But the Great Darkness had interferred once more. It had given him another chance. This one time – in his single moment of weakness.

He brought him back and restored him to life, even more powerful than before

Then he had given him his offer. To become one of his Heralds... and he accepted.

He had joined his new partners in their quest for new recruits and allies.

Partners – brothers in arms. It had become a strange concept to him, to have equals.

In thousands of years he only had dealt with subordinates, targets or opponents. And quite ironically for the most part with only few exceptions, the only people who had truly earned his respect were his enemies.

But with both their power and their conviction, there was nothing to discuss. They both possessed a philosophy and a vision for the world very similar to his own.

Despite that he and Mordred actually came from the same world, he had never met him before in person.

That might have partly been that he had been in hybernation for such long periods during the younger Immortal´s lifetime, partly because they both preferred to work from the shadows, not showing themselves openly.

He had met Dracula however and even thought him a few times. With him coming out as the victor mostly. No wonder given that he was much older and far more experienced.

But he knew it might very likely turn out different if they fought again now. Especially given how much the Super Vampire´s power and his very nature had evolved since then.

**xxx**

The red haired woman was called Jean Grey.

A human mutant with immense telepathic and telekinetic powers and once a member of the mutant superhero team known as the X-men.

Like many of her counterparts she had bounded with the cosmic force of life and death called the Phoenex.

Like most of the she had later been overwhelmed by her powers and her own darker emotions and became the destructive entity Dark Phoenex.

In a first terrible act she had blown up a sun to nourish from it´s energy – a system with a polpulated planet.

Without giving it a thought she had destroyed 5 billion living beings and wiped out nearly an entire race.

In opposite to the Jean Grey from another universe, she never turned back and repented for her massacre.

No – she repeated it.

This Jean killed her former teammates from the X-men... and then destroyed Earth and it´s entire star system.

From that point on she had planned to destroy more and more stars, to consume the entire galaxy and increase her own power without end.

But only a short time later, before she actually came to destroy the next system, she had been confronted by the Cosmic Beings known as the Celestials and Galactus.

She had been defeated and imprisoned.

Until a couple of months back when she had been freed by the Heralds of the Great Darkness... and asked to join them.

**xxx**

The second woman in the cloak was a hybrid child between a witch from Earth and an interdimensional god.

For a long time, she had not even known the name of the entity who had fathered her.

Her mother however, she knew perfectly well. The immortal witch named Lilith.

The same Lilith who according to the legend had once been Adam´s first wife and made a pact with the Devil.

She had been conceived in some kind of supernatural ritual. Raised as not much more than a living weapon for her mother´s ambitions.

But she had broken free and taken her revenge. She had killed her so called mother and her followers.

**xxx**

The last of the group was Darkseid.

He was by far the oldest out of them. A god for hundred thousands of years, long before he had ever joined their group.

Standing behind him was a large group of his Parademons and a couple of his generals. Each of them a god in his own right.

In opposite to their ancient enemies, the Gods of the planet New Genesis, they were gods of darkness, tyranny and terror. With him ruling his Empire from his home-planet Apocolypse. Both worlds existing in the same small pocket-dimension.

For thousands of years he had sought to dominate all living beings in his reality and widen his reign over an entire universe.

But that was not even the end of his ambition. For that he had once tried to destroy free will as a whole. So that only his own will would rule the universe.

But it was ultimate exactly part of this ambition that had finally driven him into a corner.

Because after following his quest for thousands of years – he had finally realized he had ultimately reached nothing.

No matter how many campaigns of conquest he started, how many plans he executed and how many battles he fought - what powers he gained and what kind of weapons he aquired,

Apocolyps and new Genesis were still rivalling each other in power.

Just like nearly all his attempts to control power outside of his realm had ultimately failed in the long run.

Just like his attempted conquests of the planet Earth – prevented by Kal El – Superman - and the superhero organization called the Justice League.

He had not lost either. He was still Supreme Ruler of Apocolyps. But so he had been for a hundred thousand years.

Over the time he had once been killed. But he had been restored to life.

He had once been only one step away from gaining the power to control the universe. But he had been stopped.

He had once lost his throne and was deposed, But was restored to power only a few years.

All in all, seen over the time, it became a quite interesting and quite unsettling picture.

Whatever happened, whatever he did, sooner or later everything will turn back just like it had been before.

All this led to a single even more unsettling question. Was he truly master over his own destiny?

He had heard the theory many times – he knew that many mortals and even some of his fellow gods believed in it – that Apocolyps and New Genesis and their rivalry were just a manifestation of some kind of cosmic balance between light and dark – between `good´ and `evil´.

But that would require them both to **always** be around the same level of power. It would mean that the universe itself was somehow manipulating events to make sure that neither ever truly won.

He had always scoffed at this theory. He was one of the most powerful beings in existence.

But after thousands of years of running in circles, even he was starting to have his doubts.

Was he truly a mighty Dark God and Emperor? Or was he just a puppet that was pulled around by invisible strings of fate?

In the end it didn´t matter.

If it was now some kind of `higher force´ manipulating them all or simply many cases of simply bad luck, it was clear that his great goal was still far out of reach and he would most likely not achieve it in another thousand years.

The truth was, he was tired of it.

When the Great Darkness had contacted him and given him it´s offer, he had accepted after a short time of consideration.

Not so much out of faith in it´s cause, but mostly out of enlighted self-interest.

Part of their agreement was the complete destruction of New Genesis and then they would at one point deal with the Justice League on his universe´s version of Earth.

After they had dealt with the Green Lantern Corps of course.

One way or another, Darkseid would cut the strings holding him back.

**xxx**

These six were the leaders of their combined force – their Lords.

All their powers o their own had evolved to a point where it had either reached a Cosmic Level or was short before that.

And right now they were about to recruit a seventh. If Thanos accepted, they were finally ready to unleash their wrath on the entire universe.

**xxx**

"And if I refuse?" Thanos asked.

"Then I will simply release you and your followers to freely go your own way," the voice responded.

"I will return you to the point in the Quantum Realm where I had found you.

But I will erase all memories you and your followers have about this meeting.

You will arrive in a timeline virtually identical to the one you have just seen.

You will be free to follow the plan to get the Infinity Stones you were just realizing.

Of course that means you will also risk to end exactly like your counterpart. But if you trust your fate to turn out different this time around, you are free to try.

There is always room for things to be different. Maybe this time you won´t let Tony Stark snatch the Infinity Stones from you. Or maybe this time you will be quicker to get the Gaunlet.

Or maybe you will just end up exactly like the version of yourself you have just seen."

A short glympse of uneasiness came over Thanos features. He had now watched his own death twice.

First from the recording he had seen from the time-travelling Avengers... and now the one here.

He would not admit it loud, but after seeing this something in him had broken.

**xxx**

A long time ago, after the destruction of his home-planet, he had nothing. He had been the last of his family, the last of his kind, the last of his world.

A destruction that he had seen coming.

That he could have prevented, by removing half the population to save the other half.

But his people had spoken out against it and against **him**... and he had given in.

Titan had died... because he had not acted when he should have.

After some time, he found himself a new purpose. To do what he had once failed to do across the entire universe. To remove the half on all life.

He followed this purpose for centuries, longer than most species were even alive.

For that he had built up an Empire of terror, recruited soldiers, learned to kill and to torture, brought entire warrior races under his command, recruited his `children´ from some of the decimated worlds.

Over this time he had been searching for the Infinity Stones and finally, at one point in the future, found them and fulfilled his destiny.

Erased half the life in the universe and then destroyed the Stones themselves.

Or at least that was what his future-self thought before the Avengers killed him.

It had all turned out to be useless in the end.

Because they had found a way to return to the past, where the Infinity Stones still existed and used them to bring everyone back.

And so erased his destiny, made everything he had achieved pointless.

After some heavy consideration, Thanos had decided to `modify´ his plan.

So he made one last bold attempt. He used the Avengers own time travel technology to follow them into the future and take the Infinity Stones from them that they had collected there... and to personally destroy Earth to make complely sure they never interfered with his plans again (and to vent out his frustrations).

Instead of using the Stones to remove half the life and hope that the rest would simply let go of what they lost and thrive however – something that would never happen, he was now convinced -

he would use them to destroy the **entire** universe, kill **everyone**... and then use their immense power to completely recreate it.

But even that turned out a failure. He had faced of and fought Tony Stark, Thor and Captain America. But instead of himself they managed to used the Stones first and turned him and his entire army to ashes.

**xxx**

At least that would have been his fate if this being who claimed to be the Great Darkness from legend had not intercepted them in the middle of their time-jump and brought them here. Wherever here was.

But it had not done it in a way that had kept events from happening, but that had created yet another set of alternate versions of himself and his followers.

The `him´ who was right now standing here.

The question was, would he try again on his own? Did he have this strength?

The answer was no.

He had seen himself be killed and his destiny shattered twice. He would and could not bring himself to take that risk again.

**xxx**

"Make your choice," the voice said.

Thanos said nothing for a few moments.

Then he finally sank down to his knees.

"I will join you," he said.

"Good – very good," the voice said.

As he heard this words, Thanos felt power flowing into his body, like he had never known it before.

It might not have been quite the same as the Infinit Gems would have been given him, but it was impressive.

And it was **his**, he knew instinctively. It could not be taken from him just by stripping the glove from his hand or stealing the stones.

It was truly his.

"From now on you will never kneel again," the voice told him, "before nobody. You are now one of my Heralds – my Lords. One of my Children."

Thanos realized the irony of this statement. Given his own adopted children, who he had raised as some of his strongest and most faithful followers.

"The Infinity Stones?" he asked.

"Their powers are quite impressive, but they are only limited to a single universe. But if it is your decision, you are of course free to continue your pursuit of them.

If that is still your wish – my son.

But for the moment I would ask you to leave your home-universe by itself. They have fought and overcome the challenge you presented after all.

We will turn to it when the time comes. But for now there are more important targets out there for you."

**xxxxxxx**

_Somewhere else – Universe 001_

It was at night in front of a large mansion not far away from London on Earth – on one of the many Earths across the Multiverse.

It was the year 2024. Or at least it was in this place and this world.

A figure, wearing a long black coat, was slowly walking on the sidewalk of the road to the gates of the estate.

As he had reached the entrance, he was greeted by two guards wearing uniforms and carrying guns.

"Please state your name and business," a polite voice asked.

"This is the Hellsing Estate," the figure. "I want to talk to Lady Hellsing. My codeword is Caeleon-Nr: 1894. She will recognize it."

"I see." A man stepped forward from behind the guards. He was obviously their superior. "Wait here. Could you tell us why you want to speak with Lady Integra?" the guard leader asked.

"I would rather explain this to her in person," the stranger replied. "To say it bluntly, I fear you won´t believe me."

"Really?" the leader of the guards replied. "Trust me – there is a lot we have seen since we started to work here, that we would have never believed before."

**xxxxxxx**

A short time later the man was sitting inside.

The leader of the guards had led him to Lady Hellsing´s office, where he was awaited by two women,

The first was Lady Hellsing herself. A elder strict and rigid looking woman in a suit with long greyed once platin blonde hair.

The second woman could not have been any different.

The man could sense that she was a Vampire.

"Lady Integra Hellsing," the man greeted her.

She nodded.

"So this is it," Integra Hellsing said. "The codeword - Caerlon – I had been informed about it when I took this position. Like every head of the Hellsing family since Abraham.

You have returned."

"Yes I have," the man replied simply.

"What should we call you?" Integra asked. "Or maybe I should rather say, what name are you using in these days?"

"I guess John Galahad would be fitting," he said.

"And Seras Victoria." he turned to her. "I am glad to meet one of Vlad´s fledlings. Even more one who is actually on our side for once."

"How do you know my name?" the female Vampire asked.

"I can see it in your mind," he said.

"You can do that?" she called out. "But I am a Vampire.

"I am sure your Master could do it as well easily, if he were here."

"How? What kind of being are you?"

A bit to her surprise the man actually smiled at her in return. Until this moment he had seemed serious as a rock.

"Actually," he said, "technically I am human. Just with abilities that most people don´t have. And very old. Or at least I have been," he said quietly.

****xxx****

Similar to his old opponent he admitted, he secretly feared the metamorphosis they both were going through. Immortal they had already been for 15 centuries.

But now they stopped even being human by any close definition... or even biological life. They became something completely unknown to them.

And it terrified him to imagine what could happen if he lost control at one point.

But they both als knew that there was no turning back. Trying to reverse the clock, turning back life? That was going just as much against his personal convictions as his old opponent´s.

He knew what happened to him was as much a gift as it was a curse. Soon he would be one of the few beings across the Multiverse able to defend it from the threat that was about to rise.

****xxx****

"Enough of this," Integra spoke up.

"Ahm, excuse me Lady Integra, but what do yo mean?" the blonde Vampire asked. She had truly no idea what these two were talking about.

"Seras," Integra Hellsing addressed her, "what you will hear now it top secret. At a level far beyond even everything else involving Hellsing."

"Of course Master," she answered.

Integra looked at her sternly.

"What you know about the Hellsing Organization, about the way it was founded... is not the entire truth," she told her.

"As you know, Hellsing was founded as defenders of the Crown and the Realm from the Supernatural by Abraham van Hellsing under the authority of Queen Viktoria.

That much is true, but...

… the truth is, it had also been founded as a secret side-arm of an even older organization – the Caerleon Order."

"What?" Seras called out. "And this organization is...?"

"Technically Caerleon fulfills a similar purpose as Hellsing. Protecting the world from Supernatural threats... or extradimensional ones.

The difference if that Caerleon isn´t limited to a certain country or religion. Or a single world."

"World? Extradimensional? You mean?" Seras questioned.

"That is exactly like it sounds. Other planets and parallel universes, both. You are a Vampire, sired by Dracula himself. Does this sound really so unlikely?" he asked.

"Abraham Van Hellsing himself had been a member of Caerleon since his youth and had stayed it."

"What exactly do you want from us right now?" Integra asked.

"Something is going on. Our old enemies are moving. But they are not longer the same. They had grown far more powerful and dangerous than ever before. And they had allied with others.

Things has already happened. Terrible things out there... in other worlds beside our own.

If things continue like this, not only our reality, but all of them might be in danger."

"So it is them," Integra remarked.

"Yes, it is... and you are not the only person I am contacting, by far not. There are also the group called the Avengers, the X-Men, the one called the Fantastic Four, alone on this planet... and others."

Integra had heard about this so called Super Hero teams that had emerged during the last decades and she had also followed the rise of the mutants everywhere on the world.

People born with superpowers, because of a mutation of their genom. Powers that often bordered to magic or demonic powers... and sometimes even surpassed it.

And in turn these mutants were often met with fear and hatred by the normal people.

As Head of Hellsing her duty was the fight against the supernatural. So this didn´t truly fell into her department. But that didn´t mean that she wasn´t concerned about the development.

"Lady Hellsing – Integra," he said to her, "We need Dracula – or Alucard as you call him... and the entire Hellsing Organization."

"That is easier said than done," she replied. "As you should already know Alucard had vanished during the battle of London over twenty years ago and had not been seen since then."

"I am aware of what had happened to him and the state he is in. In a sense he is still here," the man said.

"It seems during the battle he had somehow absorbed a new and dangerous set of powers, that works contradictory to the rest of his nature... and even caused him to loose his physical shape.

But I can sense him, on another - a higher - plane of existence. I am confident however to help him return quicker."

"You can?" Seras said hopefully.

"I think so. But you should know that he will be different from before."

"What exactly do you mean – different?" Integra wanted to kow.

"His power will have grown. His abilities will have combined with that of the enemy he had absorbed. When everything works out,"

"Will the magical seals still be able to hold him?" Integra asked him.

A moment later she regretted the question. As she saw Galahad smiling at her.

"Lady Hellsing – Integra – why are you insisting of keeping up this charade? I can read your thoughts as you know.

I am completely aware of what you suspect. And you are right.

I know all about the seals Abraham had used and what they are capable of. In fact we had once designed them together after models from my old Master Merlin."

"W-what is he talking about Master?" Seras asked.

"Alucard has been able to overcome the seals for a long time," Integra said tonelessly. "He could have broken them whenever he wanted. "

"I see – so why had he staid your Servant the entire time?"

"I am not completely sure," she responded. "I like to think because he had actually truly come to respect me and my ancestors... and maybe, that he even started to sympathize with Hellsing and it´s goals somewhat, at least a bit."

But despite that she couldn´t shake up her fear... that the real reason was something else. That he had just kept her and all of Hellsing around for his personal amusement.

In her mind she saw the day when the Vampire would finally stand up against her and crush her and the entire Hellsing organization.

When he laughed into her face and told her what a joke she and her orders had always been... and then rip her apart and consume her blood and her soul.

Or leave her alive, with everyone working under her dead. Broken and humiliated, with her honor, her dignity and her pride broken beyond repair.

The foolish woman who had believed she was Dracula´s Master.

But she told herself that this were only her own fears. Her and Alucard´s relationship went way back. And it was in a nearly bizarre was always based on respect. This would never happen.

****xxxxxxx****

**_New York_**

Somewhere else, three men were in this moment sitting together inside the house that was the residence of the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth.

Two of this men were the current holder of that title – Doctor Stephen Strange and his friend and assistent Wong.

The man they were talking with was looking identical to the one in the Hellsing Mansion in England. Because he was the same man – John Galahad. He was literally at two places at once.

Of course the one currently in England was his real body, while this one was created from supernatural energy.

He had just told the two Sorcerers his story.

And their expressions said more than words ever could.

"Okay – just to recapitulate that," Dr. Strange said, "En Sabah Nur, Dracula, a immortal version of Mordred, Dark Phoenex...

a Dark God and cosmic dictator from another universe named Darkseid and a powerful hybrid between a god and a sorceress... and they are all working together.

And on top of that they are being guided by some kind of all powerful super entity... and they are allied with Dormammu?"

"In short – yes," Galahad replied. "And they have an army of millions."

"I guess it is a really bad day, even by our standards," Wong commented.

"And you are in truth a immortal Knight of the Round-Table," Strange stated.

Not quite unlike Vlad the Impaler once, he had met this man before several years ago. Without finding out his true identity however.

"Yes – even if I often wish it were not true."

"And you are the leader of a secret order with the purpose to fight this threat," Wong added.

"This one and others – yes," he replied.

"Then why are you here by yourself?" Wong asked.

"Many of my comrades are in this moment on different places all over the world to gather allies," Galahad said. "Myself included actually."

"So that is why you are only here in a fake body," Dr. Strange commented.

"Exactly."

**xxxxxxx**

_In some distance from New York – a private school estate in Westchester, _

_Headquarter of the X-men_

The X-men and their mentor Charless Xavier as well had a group of visitors who had just finished telling them the same story.

They were just as shocked. But in their case, at least since Charles Xavier being the currently most powerful telepath on Earth, there were no real doubt that what they were telling was the truth.

The X-men currently present beside Xavier himself...

... were Scott Summers, Emma Frost – also called the White Queen, the woman he was currently involved with,

Logan – Wolverine, Ororo Munroe – Storm, Bobby Drake – Iceman, Henry Mac Coy – Beast, Warren Worthington – Angel, Kurt Wagner – Nightcrawler, the woman called Rogue and Remy Lebeau – Gambit.

Three of their visitors were people they already knew. The telepath Nate Grey, beside him a red haired woman looking literally identical to their deceased (or rather missing) friend Jean Grey.

This was no wonder, since she was Madelyne Prior, who had originally been created as a clone of Jean.

And the third the time-traveller called Cable.

While all three of them were powerful mutants with bizarre and outlandish backstories, the X-men knew them all quite well.

It were the other three members of the group that truly surprised the X-men.

The first – a man wearing a long black trenchcoat and wearing a crucifix around his neck – claimed to be nobody else than the legendary Grigori Rasputin, who had after his supposed death joined a group called the Caerleon Order.

His two compatriots, wearing similar clothes, a man and a woman, said they were warriors of the same organization.

"That is how things are," Nate Grey said, finishing their explanation.

"You realize how dangerous that what you just suggested is?" Xavier asked.

"We all know that," Cable answered.

"It is far too dangerous," Scott said, obviously unsettled by his own words.

"You all know how much I care about Jean," Logan said. "But the last time someone tried to resurrect her, she nearly destroyed the world... again."

"We are aware of that," the supposed Rasputin stated. "Your... well – friends here, have told us about everything."

**xxx**

A few of them send a short glance to Madelyne. She and them had been on bad terms for the last years.

She had actually been their enemy a few times.

She went insane - either trough the corrupted Phoenex Force she inherited from Jean... or through the manipulations of some super villains – or a combination of both – and nearly destroyed the world once.

But on the other side... so did Jean.

Either way, alone that she was here with the others and willingly volunteered to work with them showed how serious the situation must be.

**xxx**

"But we have no choice," he stated. "We need Jean Grey... and we need her as Phoenex."

**xxxxxxx**

_Doctor Strange Residence_

"And for the rest," the man called Galahad said.

He made a gesture and a dimensional portal opened in front of them... and a group of people stepped out.

They saw to their surprise that they actually recognized two of them.

Stick – a old man, wearing causual clothes. In truth however they knew that he was the leader of a esoteric and mysterious sect of ninjas...

… and Senator Kelly? A famous and influencual Senator, who had been known for his controvential stances to the mutants.

But he had supposedly been killed during an assassination a few years ago.

"We are here like promised," one of the men they didn´t recognize said to Galahad.

He had long silvery white hair and was clad in an unremarkable grey coat.

"Thank you," he replied.

He turned back around to Strange and Wong.

"I see you already know some of our comrades and allies," he said.

"For the others here."

He pointed at the man with the long white hair.

"This is Raiden, a God from another universe."

They greeted him with a short respectful nod.

Then Galahad gestured to the man next to him. A very muscular looking asian, who seemed to be wearing some kind of blue colored fighting gear under his coat.

"... and Sub Zero – a warrior under his guidance," he continued.

"Hercules – but not the version you are familiar with, but the one from another universe."

They saw that he really had a great ressemblance with the Olympian Half-God they knew.

"And Specter," Galahad gestured to the last, a man wearing a green cape and hood over a grey outfit, hiding his face,

"a hero and super-being from another dimension."

Super Being – yes that was the right word, Stephen Strange thought. His magic was practically screaming at him as he saw this man.

Suddenly he actually felt a bit more confident.

* * *

**Besides Endgame, some comic stories this chapter is refering to are X-men´s Dark Phoenex saga and Phoenex Endsong and the Apocalypse: The Twelve crossover.**

**Not all of the comic´s histories (that are often quite convuluted by themselves, even more if you combine multiple continuties) must not necessary be included in every universe however.**

**Dormammu for example will be based on the Movie version, who I prefer, while the X-men for example mostly on their comic histories and personalities.**

**Basic rule is if one more obscure event from the comics is not directly mentioned (best example Apocalypses fights with Dracula - who was Marvels Dracula in the original, not Hellsing´s) it has most likely not happened that way in this universe.**

**The "Great Darkness" here is partly based on the similar concept from DC comics, partly on Dahak from Hercules/Xena, Stephen Kings Crimson King and similar evil Supreme Deities.**


End file.
